Problems with NORTHERN guinea buyers from Ideal Hatchery

[Spaceglider8]

I've ordered guineas from Cackle, no problems. From Country Hatchery in OK, no problems. But EVERY time I order guineas from Ideal I lose half of them, or ALL of them the minute colder weather hits...even if they are full grown...why is this happening???

 

[Joe.G]

How many Gunieas do you order at a time? I would like to order some but don't need a lot. From my understanding Guineas aren't as tough as chickes when they are young, they die easily.

 

[Spaceglider8]

I usually end up ordering 30 from any of the places I have gotten them. I also got ahold of Ideal a few days ago, and told them this has happened over and over again, we finally came up with the one factor in ordering from them is that it has ALWAYS been in late summer and its always been very hot, so these babies were probably lacking electrolytes once they got here and needed a better supplement than what I had given them. SO--this time when we ordered them, again it was hot, and over the course of three days I lost 8 of the 25 that arrived BUT when I ran to Murdochs I got some specific vitamin and electrolytes for chicks--and they perked up immediately. We also got 100 assorted sebrights from them and all of them seemed to be doing well as of late last night--so, I think thats been the issue, getting a late hatch, then having them arrive dehydrated.

The other issue in Colorado is our stupid weather, in about a month the night time gets COLD fast, desert type weather here on the Plains, so if the guineas are perching outisde if they are not fuly feathered OR do not have enough fat sores, they end up sick almost immediately. Colorado is just a weird place to try and raise birds in the fall...

BTW--then, to answer your question, you can buy 20 I think from Ideal yet, but the others like Cackle and Country Hatchery are all out. If you get some electrolytes/vitamins you are probably going to be in good shape, the other thing i found is to keep them out of any drafts...

 

[Spaceglider8]

just as an update: Guineas from Country Hatchery, OK: 2 dead due to accidental deaths.

Guineas from Ideal Hatchery: 13 dead out of 25. No explanation. One mild night down to 55 degrees and they perish.